6202.0 - Labour Force, Australia, Aug 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/09/2006   
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AUGUST KEY FIGURES

Jul 2006
Aug 2006
Jul 06 to Aug 06
Aug 05 to Aug 06

Trend
Employed persons ('000)
10 223.3
10 252.6
29.3
2.2
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
520.8
518.4
-2.3
-3.1
%
Unemployment rate (%)
4.8
4.8
0.0
pts
-0.3
pts
Participation rate (%)
64.9
65.0
0.1
pts
0.4
pts
Seasonally Adjusted
Employed persons ('000)
10 242.1
10 265.5
23.4
2.0
%
Unemployed persons ('000)
514.0
523.6
9.5
-1.6
%
Unemployment rate (%)
4.8
4.9
0.1
pts
-0.2
pts
Participation rate (%)
64.9
65.1
0.1
pts
0.3
pts

Employed Persons
Graph: Employed Persons

Unemployment rate
Graph: Unemployment rate



AUGUST KEY POINTS


TREND ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

  • EMPLOYMENT increased to 10,252,600
  • UNEMPLOYMENT decreased to 518,400
  • UNEMPLOYMENT RATE remained at 4.8%
  • PARTICIPATION RATE increased to 65.0%


SEASONALLY ADJUSTED ESTIMATES (MONTHLY CHANGE)

EMPLOYMENT
  • increased by 23,400 to 10,265,500. Full-time employment increased by 22,600 to 7,324,200 and part-time employment increased marginally to 2,941,300.

UNEMPLOYMENT
  • increased by 9,500 to 523,600. The number of persons looking for full-time work increased by 4,900 to 367,300 and the number of persons looking for part-time work increased by 4,700 to 156,300.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE
  • increased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.9%. The male unemployment rate remained at 4.7% and the female unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.0%.

PARTICIPATION RATE
  • increased by 0.1 percentage point to 65.1%.


NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE Release Date
September 2006 12 October 2006
October 2006 9 November 2006
November 2006 7 December 2006
December 2006 11 January 2007
January 2007 8 February 2007
February 2007 15 March 2007



CENSUS

Estimates of employment for August include temporary staff recruited by the ABS to conduct the 2006 Population Census. The net addition to employment in August resulting from the Census is estimated to be around 7,000 persons. In total, approximately 40,000 temporary workers were employed by the ABS to assist with the Census. Most of the remaining 33,000 temporary workers did not add to employment growth between July and August because they already had a job when they took on Census employment. Some of these persons, although usually working part-time, may have worked full-time hours during August because of the additional Census work.



ROUNDING

Estimates of monthly change shown on the front cover have been calculated using unrounded estimates, and may be different from, but are more accurate than, movements obtained from the rounded estimates. The graphs on the front cover also depict unrounded estimates.



SAMPLING ERRORS

The estimates in this publication are based on a sample survey. Because the entire population is not enumerated, the published estimates and the movements derived from them are subject to sampling variability. Standard errors give a measure of this variability and appear on pages 27 and 28.


The 95% confidence intervals below provide another way of looking at the variability inherent in estimates from sample surveys. The interval bounded by the two limits is the 95% confidence interval. A 95% confidence interval has a 95% chance of including the true value of the estimate.

Movements in seasonally adjusted series between July and August 2006

Monthly change
95% Confidence interval

Total Employment
23 400
-28 800
to
75 600
Total Unemployment
9 500
-17 300
to
36 300
Unemployment rate
0.1 pts
-0.1 pts
to
0.3 pts
Participation rate
0.1 pts
-0.3 pts
to
0.5 pts



INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Michael Johnson on Canberra (02) 6252 6525.



PRINCIPAL LABOUR FORCE SERIES TREND ESTIMATES


EMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of employed persons rose from 8,381,600 in August 1996 to 9,056,200 in September 2000. The trend then fell slightly to 9,037,800 in January 2001, before generally rising to stand at a high of 10,252,600 in August 2006.

Graph: Employed persons



UNEMPLOYED PERSONS

The trend estimate of unemployed persons rose from 754,200 in August 1996 to 771,700 in February 1997. The trend then generally fell to 583,800 in September 2000, before rising to 685,900 in October 2001. The trend then fell to 532,300 in January 2005, before rising to 548,600 in December 2005. Since then, the trend has fallen to stand at 518,400 in August 2006.

Graph: Unemployed persons



UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

The trend unemployment rate rose from 8.3% in August 1996 to 8.4% in February 1997, before falling to 6.1% in September 2000. After rising to 7.0% in October 2001, the trend fell to 5.1% in July 2005. The trend rose slightly to 5.2% in December 2005, before falling to stand at 4.8% in August 2006.

Graph: Unemployment rate



STATES TREND ESTIMATES


UNEMPLOYMENT RATE


NEW SOUTH WALES

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for New South Wales generally rose from 7.6% in August 1996 to 7.7% in April 1997, before falling to 5.3% in August 2000. The trend then rose to 6.5% in November 2001, before falling to 5.0% in July 2005. The trend has since generally risen to stand at 5.4% in August 2006.

Graph: Unemployment rate NSW



VICTORIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Victoria increased from 8.5% in August 1996 to 8.9% in November 1996, before falling steadily to 5.8% in October 2000. The trend then rose to 6.7% in November 2001, before generally falling to stand at 4.8% in August 2006.

Graph: Unemployment rate Vic



QUEENSLAND

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Queensland rose from 9.1% in August 1996 to 9.5% in February 1997, before generally falling to 7.3% in August 2000. After rising to 8.7% in April 2001, the trend rate then fell to 4.7% in February 2005, before rising again to 5.1% in January 2006. The trend rate has since fallen to stand at 4.5% in August 2006.

Graph: Unemployment rate Qld



SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for South Australia rose from 9.1% in August 1996 to 9.8% in July 1998, before generally falling to 4.9% in July 2005. The trend then rose to 5.3% in March 2006, before falling to stand at 4.8% in August 2006.

Graph: Unemployment rate SA



WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Western Australia generally fell from 7.5% in August 1996 to 5.8% in July 2000. The trend then rose sharply to 7.4% in June 2001, before falling to 5.8% in May 2003. The trend then rose to 6.2% in October 2003, before generally falling to stand at 3.3% in August 2006.

Graph: Unemployment rate WA



TASMANIA

The trend estimate of the unemployment rate for Tasmania rose from 10.1% in August 1996 to 10.9% in October 1997, before generally falling to 8.6% in September 1999. The trend then remained relatively steady, standing at 9.1% in January 2003. The trend then generally fell to 5.7% in January 2005, before rising to 6.7% in November 2005. Since then, the trend has fallen to stand at 6.2% in August 2006.

Graph: Unemployment rate Tas